<h2>Name</h2>
<p>
The Surah derived its name from the words <em>lima tuharrimu</em> of the very
first verse. This too is not a title of its subject matter, but the
name implies that it is the Surah in which the incident of <em>tahrim</em>
(prohibition, forbiddance) has been mentioned.
</p>
<h2>Period of Revelation</h2>
<p>
In connection with the incident of <em>tahrim</em> referred to in this Surah,
the traditions of the <em>Hadith</em> mention two ladies who were among the
wives of the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) at that time Hadrat
Safiyyah and Hadrat Mariyah Qibtiyyah. The former (i. e. Hadrat
Safiyyah) was taken to wife by the Holy Prophet after the conquest of
Khaiber, and Khaiber was conquered, as has been unanimously reported,
in A. H. 7. The other lady, Hadrat Mariyah, had been presented to the
Holy Prophet by Muqawqis, the ruler of Egypt, in A. H. 7 and she had
borne him his son, Ibrahim, in Dhil-Hijjah, A. H. 8.These historical
events almost precisely determine that this Surah was sent down some
time during A.H. 7 or A. H 8.
</p>
<h2>Theme and Topics</h2>
<p>
This is a very important Surah in which light has been thrown on some
questions of grave significance with reference to some incidents
concerning the wives of the Holy Prophet (upon whom be Allah's peace).
</p>
<p>
First, that the powers to prescribe the bounds of the lawful and the
unlawful, the permissible and the forbidden, are entirely and
absolutely in the hand of Allah and nothing has been delegated even to
the Prophet of Allah himself, not to speak of any other man. The
Prophet as such can declare something lawful or unlawful only if he
receives an inspiration from Allah to do so whether that inspiration
is embodied in the Qur'an, or imparted to, him secretly. However, even
the Prophet is not authorized to declare anything made permissible by
Allah unlawful by himself, much less to say of another man. 
</p>
<p>
Second,
that in any society the position of a Prophet is very delicate. A
minor incident experienced by an ordinary man in his life may not be
of any consequence, but it assumes the status of law when experienced
by a Prophet. That is why the lives of the Prophets have been kept
under close supervision by Allah so that none of their acts, not even
a most trivial one, may deviate from Divine Will. Whenever such an act
has emanated from a Prophet, it was rectified and rectified
immediately so that the Islamic law and its principles should reach
the people in their absolute purity not only through the Divine Book
but also through the excellent example of the Prophet, and they should
include nothing which may be in disagreement with Divine Will, 
</p>
<p>
Thirdly,
and this automatically follows from the above mentioned point, that
when the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) was checked on a minor
thing, which was not only corrected but also recorded, it gives us
complete satisfaction that whatever actions and commands and
instructions we now find in the pure life of the Holy Prophet
concerning which there is nothing on record in the nature of criticism
or correction from Allah, they are wholly based on truth, are in
complete conformity with Divine Will and we can draw guidance from
them with full confidence and peace of mind. 
</p>
<p>
The fourth thing that we
learn from this discourse is that about the Holy Messenger himself,
whose reverence and respect Allah Himself has enjoined as a necessary
part of the Faith of His servants, it has been stated in this Surah
that once during his sacred life he made a thing declared lawful by
Allah unlawful for himself only to please his wives; then Allah has
severely reproved for their errors those very wives of the Holy
Prophet, whom He Himself has declared as mothers of the faithful and
worthy of the highest esteem and honor by them. Then, this criticism
of the Prophet and the administration of the warning to the wives also
has not been made secretly but included in the Book, which the entire
<em>Ummah</em> has to read and recite for ever. Obviously, neither the
intention of making mention of it in the Book of Allah was, nor it
could be, that Allah wanted to degrade His Messenger and the mothers
of the faithful in the eyes of the believers; and this also is obvious
that no Muslim has lost respect for them, in his heart after reading
this Surah of the Qur'an. Now, there cannot be any other reason of
mentioning this thing in the Qur'an than that Allah wants to acquaint
the believers with the correct manner of reverence for their great
personalities. The Prophet is a Prophet, not God, that he may commit
no error. Respect of the Prophet has not been enjoined because he is
infallible, but because he is a perfect representative of Divine Will,
and Allah has not permitted any of his errors to pass by unnoticed.
This gives us the satisfaction that the noble pattern of life left by
the Prophet wholly and fully represents the will of Allah. Likewise,
the Companions of the holy wives of the Prophet, were human, not
angels or super men. They could commit mistakes. Whatever ranks they
achieved became possible only because the guidance given by Allah and
the training imparted by Allah's Messenger had moulded them into the
finest models. Whatever esteem and reverence they deserve is on this
very basis and not on the presumption that they were infallible. For
this reason, whenever in the sacred lifetime of the Prophet (upon him
be peace) the Companions or holy wives happened to commit an error due
to human weakness, they were checked. Some of their errors were
corrected by the Holy Prophet, as has been mentioned at many places in
the <em>Hadith</em>; some other errors were mentioned in the Qur'an and Allah
Himself corrected them so that the Muslims might not form any
exaggerated notion of the respect and reverence of their elders and
great men, which might raise them from humanity to the position of
gods and goddesses. If one studies the Quran carefully, one will see
instances of this one after the other. In Surah Al-Imran, in connection
with the Battle of Uhud, the Companions have been addressed and told:
</p>
<p>
"Allah did fulfill His promise (of help) to you : in the initial stage
of the battle, it was you who were killing them by Allah's leave until
you lost heart and disputed about your duty and disobeyed your leader,
when Allah showed you what (the spoils) you coveted for there were
among you sortie who hankered after the life of this world, and
others: who cherished the life after death. Then Allah caused your
retreat before the disbelievers in order to test you, but the fact is
that even then Allah pardoned you, for Allah is very gracious to the
believers." (v. 152). 
</p>
<p>
In surah An-Nur, in connection with the Slander
against Hadrat Aisha, the Companions were told, 
</p>
<p>
"When you heard of it,
why did not the believing men and the believing women have a good
opinion of themselves, and why did they not say: this is a manifest
slander?......Were it not for Allah's grace and mercy towards you in
this world and in the Hereafter, a painful scourge would have visited
you because of the slander. (Just consider) when you passed this lie
on from one tongue to the other and uttered with your mouths that of
which you had no knowledge. You took it as a trifling matter whereas
it was a grave offense in the sight of Allah. Why did you not, as soon
as you heard of it, say 'It is not proper for us to utter such a
thing? Glory be to Allah! This is a great slander'."Allah admonishes
you that in future you should never repeat anything like this, if you
are true believers." (vv. 12-I7). 
</p>
<p>
In surah Al-Ahzab, the holy wives
have been addressed thus: "O Prophet, say to your wives If you seek
the world and its adornments, come, I shall give you of these and send
you off in a good way. But if you seek Allah and His Messenger and the
abode of the Hereafter, you should rest assured that Allah has
prepared a great reward for those of you, who do good." (vv. 28-29).
</p>
<p>
In Surah Jumu'ah about the Companions it was said: 
</p>
<p>
"And when they saw
some merchandise and amusement they broke off to it and left you (O
Prophet) standing (in the course of the Sermon). Say to them : that
which is with Allah is far better than amusement and merchandise, and
Allah is the best of all providers." (v. 11). 
</p>
<p>
In Surah Al-Mumtahinah,
Hadrat Hatib bin Abi Balta'ah, a Companion who had fought at Badr, was
severely taken to task because he had sent secret information to the
disbelieving Quraish about the Holy Prophet's invasion before the
conquest of Makkah. 
</p>
<p>
All these instances are found in the Qur'an itself,
in the same Qur'an in which Allah Himself has paid tribute to the
Companions and the holy wives for their great merits, and granted them
the certificate of His good pleasure, saying: "Allah became well
pleased with them and they with Allah." It was this same moderate and
balanced teaching of the reverence and esteem of the great men, which
saved the Muslims from falling into the pit of man worship in which
the Jews and the Christians fell, and it is a result of the same that
in the books that the eminent followers of the <em>Sunnah</em> have compiled on
the subjects of the <em>Hadith</em>, Commentary of the Qur'an and History, not
only have the excellences and great merits of the Companions and holy
wives and other illustrious men been mentioned, but also no hesitance
has been shown in mentioning the incidents relating to their
weaknesses, errors and mistakes, whereas those scholars were more
appreciative of the merits and excellences of the great men and
understood the bounds and limits of reverence better than those who
claim to be the upholders of reverence for the elders today. 
</p>
<p>
The fifth
thing that has been explicitly mentioned in this Surah is that Allah's
Religion is absolutely fair and just. It has for every person just
that of which he becomes worthy on the basis of his faith and works.
No relationship or connection even with the most righteous person can
be beneficial for him in any way and no relationship or connection
with the most evil and wicked person can be harmful for him in any way.
In this connection three kinds of women have been cited as examples
before the holy wives in particular. One example is of the wives of
the Prophets Noah and Lot, who, if they had believed and cooperated
with their illustrious husbands, would have occupied the same rank and
position in the Muslim community. which is enjoyed by the wives of the
Holy Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings). But
since they were disbelievers, their being the wives of the Prophets
did not help them and they fell into Hell. The second example is of
the wife of Pharaoh, who in spite of being the wife of a staunch enemy
of God believed and chose a path of action separate from that followed
by the Pharaoh's people, and her being the wife of a staunch
disbeliever did not cause her any harm, and Allah made her worthy of
Paradise. The third example is of Hadrat Maryam (Mary) (peace be upon
her), who attained to the high rank because she submitted to the
severe test to which Allah had decided to put her. Apart from Mary no
other chaste and righteous girl in the world ever has been put to such
a hard test that in spite of being unmarried, she might have been made
pregnant miraculously by Allah's command and informed what service her
Lord willed to take from her. When Hadrat Maryam accepted this
decision, and agreed to bear, like a true believer, everything that
she inevitably had to bear in order to fulfill Allah's will, then did
Allah exalt her to the noble rank of <em>Sayyidatu an-nisa' fil- Jannah</em>:
"Leader of the women in Paradise" (Musnad Ahmad). 
</p>
<p>
Besides, another
truth that we learn from this Surah is that the Holy Prophet (upon whom
be peace) did not receive from Allah only that knowledge which is
included and recorded in the Qur'an, but he was given information about
other things also by revelation, which has not been recorded in the
Qur'an. Its clear proof is verse 3 of this Surah. In it we are told
that the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) confided a secret to one of
his wives, and she told it to another. Allah informed the Holy Prophet
of this secret. Then, when the Holy Prophet warned his particular wife
on the mistake of disclosure and she said:"Who has informed you of
this mistake of mine7" he replied: "I have been informed of it by Him
Who knows everything and is All Aware." Now, the question is where in
the Qur'an is the verse in which Allah has said "O Prophet, the secret
that you had confided to one of your wives, has been disclosed by her
to another person, or to so and so?If there is no such verse in the
Qur'an, and obviously there is none, this is an express proof of the
fact that revelation descended on the Holy Prophet besides the Qur'an
as well. This refutes the claim of the deniers of <em>Hadith</em>, who allege
that nothing was sent down to the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace)
apart from the Qur'an.
</p>

